It’s not every day that a First Lady puts out a rap music video, but today is that day: Michelle Obama (whose rapper name is FLOTUS, of course) teamed up with SNL‘s Jay Pharoah and College Humor to rap about why kids should go to college. The video promotes her Better Make Room campaign, which encourages young people to aim high.
The song itself probably won’t ever make it onto your list of favorites, but it’s catchy and made better with the accompanying shots of Pharoah and Obama rapping with the White House and Washington Monument as backdrops. The lyrics drill in the message that “You should go to college.”
Obama’s own background is incorporated into the song, with her referring to her childhood in South Side Chicago and the hard work that led her to Princeton as an undergrad and later Harvard Law. Her own example is used to remind others to set high goals. “And everyone could really make their dream true / Hey kid, listenin’ in Michigan, that could be you,” she raps.
Other lyrics focus on reasons why to go to college, as well as absurd reasons to not go. “If you wanna fly jets / You should go to college / Reach high and cash checks / Fill your head with knowledge / If you wanna watch paint / Don’t go to college / But for everything else / You should go to college.”
The First Lady is definitely a better activist than she is rapper, but we will say that her song is more enjoyable than the rap ad Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson‘s campaign came up with last month. Sure, her video is a little silly, but intentionally so. The important thing is that it serves its purpose in promoting education and brings attention to Better Make Room. Plus, Obama scores points yet again for finding a fun way to support one of her causes.
